From the Chicago Tribune

4 charged in latest driver's license scheme
By Matt O'Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 4, 2004, 2:38 PM CDT
Chased out of state by heat from the Operation Safe Road investigation, four
people from Chicago bribed examiners in Wisconsin to help their clients get
truck drivers' licenses, according to federal criminal complaints unsealed
today.
The complaints, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, accused the four of
charging up to $2,000 per person to help at least 600 people from Illinois
and other states get Wisconsin commercial drivers' licenses.
The defendants allegedly split the fees with examiners, who worked for
private entities authorized by Wisconsin to conduct drivers' tests. They
went to that state to set up their scheme to avoid the Safe Road probe‹the
federal investigation into licenses for bribes in the Illinois Secretary of
State's office‹authorities said.
The four allegedly arranged for Wisconsin residents to use their homes as
mail drops so driver's license applicants could set up bank accounts in that
state. This way, the applicants could provide proof of residency when they
went to be tested, according to the charges.
Wisconsin allows the use of translators for certain languages on the written
portion of the commercial license test, while Illinois does not. So, federal
prosecutors said, the four defendants would use the translators to give
applicants correct test answers.
The defendants are Polish Nationals and the applicants mostly were of
Eastern European descent, authorities said.
The scheme began in early 2003 and continued through this year, authorities
said. The U.S. attorney's office, Postal Inspection Service and U.S.
Department of Transportation began investigating in May 2003. Authorities
did not disclose what tipped them to the operation.
The initial leader of the alleged scheme was identified in court papers as
Adam Babul, 48, operator of Bamba Inc., 3144 N. Austin Ave., Chicago. He was
charged with one count of conspiracy to make a false statement to a bank,
which carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a
$250,000 fine.
He was represented in court by a federal defender and spoke through a
translator.
Also charged were people who allegedly worked for Babul at various times:
Agnieszka D. Gierula, 32; Magdalena Jelic, 28; and Rafal Maliszewski, 25.
Prosecutors said they are cooperating with investigators.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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